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Saturday, December 20, 2008

It's the day after the snow storm (see previous post) and the sun is shining, the sky is blue, there's little wind. What a change! The air temp is frigid, but the sun feels warm on your back. I headed to the beach at Lake Ontario here in Port Credit to see what it looked like today. It was glorious!

Ice Covered Lake Ontario Beach - Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens

The waves are gentler, though the swell looked pretty strong, and the spray had covered the beach in ice. I almost took a header as I made my way through the snow (about 6 inches deep) to get a closer look. It's not how deep the snow is that matters so much; it's that snow hides things, like rocks and ankle wrenching holes :-)

Stone Covered in Ice - Lake Ontario Canada Beach at Mississauga

It's a little difficult to make out the ice covering the beach, though the large rock, center bottom (at least, I think it's a rock) is easy to see. Notice the chunks of ice floating on the waves.

Lake Ontario Bay - Mallards Ice and Cottage - Winter in Canada Scene

The white area (left, middle) is ice formed by the waves repeatedly splashing spray on shore. Larger waves, on larger Great Lakes, like Lake Huron, can form ice hills many feet high. Most of the birds had gone this day, save for some mallards on the beach, and a few on the water.

Zebra Mussels on Ice - Beach Lake Ontario After a Storm

When I took a closer look at the beach, I realized that it was covered with clusters of mussels. I am guessing they are zebra mussels, but stand to be corrected. There were so many of them, and they were so perfectly flash frozen as they hit the shore in the minus 17 C (1.4 F) temps that I wondered if they were edible. Certainly they should make some species a good meal!

Walking Through Woods - Footsteps in Snow on the Waterfront Trail Mississauga

Wow! I live in the best part of the best city to live in in Ontario! Port Credit, just across Lakeshore road from this gorgeous gardens - park and Lake Ontario beaches! If I still had my cross country skis, I would have had even more fun this afternoon.

Now, writing this an hour or so after I took these photos, I can see dark gray clouds moving in. I guess the weather forecast -- more snow! - must be right.

See more Winter in Canada pictures and tips on dealing with winter weather at my travel site.